Fans for Fandom Education

We believe that by engaging in fandom activities and communities, fans are learning to interact with media, networks and the internet in a more critical way. Fans question things. We ask things like:

  • “What if we were living in a more perfect world?”
  • “If I made this, what would I do differently?”
  • “Why do I like or dislike this game/novel/film/etc.?”

Our Approach to Education

Fans for Fandom Education (FFFE) believes that education is not about telling someone what to think, but rather about presenting relevant materials and learning experiences and trusting learners to come to their own conclusions.

As you’ll learn in the course “Am I a Fan Yet?”, one of the key features of fan cultures is that fans share. So, if you have something to add, please do! This site is currently run by one person, which vastly limits the resources that we have read/had access to. If you have read or seen something you want others to consider in reference to a topic, post it to the comments or email the admin!

As you navigate this site, remember that there is no one, single experience of fandom. Every fandom and every fan will experience things differently depending on the sites where they engage with other fans and the kinds of fannish activities that they take part in.

Navigating This Site

Think of this site as a micro-fandom university. By collecting writings, videos and thoughts about fandom, FFFE wants to use fandom as a way to learn about interacting with media.

First, pick a course of study. Each course can be done at your own pace, but the suggested time frame for each is 4-6 weeks to encourage thoughtful interaction with material and others learning with you. Currently, we have three courses of study, with the hope to add more in the future. Our current course offerings are:

Clicking on the hyperlinks above will take you to the landing page for the course. From there, you will be guided through each module. You can also use the menu at the top of each page to navigate to the course homepages from anywhere on the site!

Happy learning!